AFTER:WHAT HAPPENS TO KARTIK IN THE TREE OF SOULS
by cassielynn123
Summary: What happens to Kartik the very moment he delivers the sacrifice? Is the end of everything? Or will it lead to some whole new adventure? And ever yet..will he see Gemma Doyle again...will the two ever be linked again? Its only just started. Are you game?
1. Chapter 1

AHEM..ATTTENTION EVERYONE...JUST SO EVERYBODY KNOWS...I OWN NONE OF THIS...THIS GOES TO THE LUCKY BEING OF LIBBA BRAY..WHO IS SUCH GENIUS THAT SHE HAS SPARKED THE IMAGINATION OF THOUSANDS OF GIRLS ....

Kartik POV

After the End

It hurt for a few seconds, then nothing. And that's the scary part. There's a certain feeling of dread that starts from the bottom of your stomach, and then creeps its way to your heart. There's a bright light, so bright my head spins, and my stomach flops. And I don't even care.

"_Gemma_ _…" _I hear whispers. Her name echoes in my head, and that's the only thing I want, is _her._ But then I remember why I did it. I did it for Gemma, _my _Gemma.

The bright light does strange things to me; it makes me feel like I'm floating on air, almost as if I'm made of the wind itself.

And suddenly, scenes of my life flash before me.

I am in India, and I see my home, the small cottage that was so warm, so close. I feel the heat, but then the light takes my home away and the scene changes. I am with my brother, Amar and I are walking in the streets of India. The ocean glittering in the distance, and there is a red haired woman, and green eyes stare up at us. Gemma's mother.

And when my brother moves aside to whisper words into the mother's ear, Gemma is left in front of me. This, I remember, is the first time I set my eyes on lovely Gemma. My heart thumps louder, and I almost believe that I'm alive again. But then, I'm not.

The white light takes my Gemma away, along with her mother and Amar. And I am left alone in the light.

I watch as colors swirl around me, creating a picture of the realms. And I recognize the Caves of Sighs, I see Gemma, I see myself. I see our dream we shared. And suddenly I ache, regretting for the first time, letting the tree of all souls take me as a sacrifice. But then I picture Gemma dying, and I know what I did was right.

I see her face, her beautiful face…and I reach my hands to touch her. But then the light steals her from my grasp once more.

Now I'm floating, and I become as lighter than air itself. And then the oddest sensation comes over me.

I have no body. _Is this the afterlife_? I find myself wondering, the feeling of not owning something to move? The feeling of not having a body is not necessarily uncomfortable, just …different.

Then I hear the whispers again,

"_Gemma…"_ But they don't stop; they keep repeating her name, over and over. And I am close to madness.

"_Gemma…, Gemma…, Gemma…"_

_Please, Please,_ I find myself begging. _Stop! I did what I knew was right!_

My silent pleads turn to spoken words, then build up to a scream. But before my lungs can let out any air to yell, my guilt takes form into a shape, a human shape. The figure walks towards me. Slowly at first, then quickly, then whoever it is, is running towards me.

And I feel I must run away, but my feet are glued to the floor. And my guilt turns to fear. And the whispered voices continue at a rapid pace, keeping time with the man's running steps.

"_Gemma…Gemma…Gemma... Gemma…"_

The man runs faster yet.

"_Gemma, Gemma, Gemma, Gemma."_

My scream longs to break free, but I swallow it, my legs still immobile.

"_Gemma, Gemma, Gemma."_

Suddenly I am close enough to see his face. And suddenly there's sweet victory, a sweet reunion.

Seeing my brother returns my body back to me, I can feel my arms, my legs, my chest, my head, every part of me I can remember last.

"Amar," I whisper. And it is truly him, his full face, curly hair, my familiar brother.

"Hey, brother Kartik," He says softly, but with a smile.

Amar, and I just stare at each other, we say nothing. But nothing seems to be enough.

Seeing my brother, I know exactly who I am.

"What you did was brave, Kartik." He says, taking a step closer. "You saved Gemma's life."

I nodded. I am not proud, I am sad, because I know I will never see Gemma again.

I use my voice to ask, "Will I ever see her again?"

"Not in person."

"What do you mean?"

"You are a guardian rebel now" He explains.

"A what?"

"Rebels are the dead, living in the empire. Mortals call them angels."

"And this empty place is the Empire?" I guess.

"Nay, this is the gate to the empire."

"The gate," I confirm.

When he doesn't answer, I shake my head, hoping to clear it, "But you still didn't answer my question. Will I ever see Gemma Doyle again?"

"Each Rebel is given a mortal person to look over, you have been given Gemma." He tells me. "Its your job to look over her once again, only this time… you are much more powerful than her, despite the power that the realms have given her."

"Will I see her again brother?" I ask firmly and almost grim.

"Yes, but she will be human, and you won't be," he says helping me to understand.

"Will you join me?"

"No, but when your job is finished, we will live in the same place."

"For how long?"

"For all eternity, from the beginning to the very end, and back again," his tone is mysterious and quiet. We say nothing then, and I don't even try to understand,

I think this is heaven, but this is too confusing, so I know I'm not in 'the empire' as the Amar put it.

_Amar._ This is when I know my real and true brother is in front of me. It hits me like the first ray of dawn.

Amar seems to understand. He takes another step and opens his arm.

Like I did when I was small, I practically race to him. And finally I found my brother, the part of me that was missing.

But just when I place another part of me back in place, the other half stays with her.

With Gemma.


	2. WHEN KARTIK RETURNS

Kartik POV

Amar…yes, Amar. In front of my very eyes! I have never been on higher spirits…and I've never been so heartsick, at the very same time.

"Come brother, you must meet Job."

"Job," I question.  
He laughs, deep and hardy, and I realize I haven't heard that sound in a very long time.

Amar takes my hand, and leads me in a random direction. He seems to know exactly where he is headed. But all I see empty, white, space. There isn't even any ground, just emptiness. Somehow, I expected this.

"You will like Job." He says smiling, "he is quite the character."

"Is he a"- I hesitate. "You know a guardian as you call it. I still don't even understand how this all works."

Amar chuckles warmly when he says, "Neither did I, brother, don't worry."

Another question pops in my head, and I'm so used to not speaking my mind, that I hesitate, unsure if I should open my mouth.

"Speak, brother, all you say is welcome here." He knows me so well.

"When did you get here? Didn't you pass from the Winterlands only a few minutes before me?"

My brother smiles, "here, in the empire, there is eternity, which means you were always here, and means that you aren't welcome at the same time. You are here forever and beyond, and back again."

"I believe you already spoke that, brother Amar."

"Because I meant it," He says slightly.

"I still don't understand it."

"You don't have to, Kartik. It's just the way things will play out."

He gestures at my appearance, and says, "Everything is perfect here."

I look down at my trousers and shoes. And I notice the blood marks and deep cuts are gone, perfectly repaired.

"Brother, we're here."

Even though I don't know where _here_ is, I look up I see a great and golden gate, sparkling in the sun.

_The sun._ There's sun here! I notice the sun is beyond the wide gate, _everything _is beyond the gold gate. There's sun, there's sky, there's ocean, there's land, there's a market, and there's palaces, there's people, the empire has everything you can imagine.

Amar reaches towards the gate. It's made of golden glass. I find myself wondering how this place could suddenly appear out of the frightening empty space.

At Amars' touch, the gates gracefully swing open with enthusiasm.

We are shown, a bizarre, just like the ones we had in India. There's tall shops and building, men selling spicy food and cool tea, women walking the streets, looking for the perfect ingredients. There are children running and playing games, wide smiles covering their little faces.

Men laugh loudly with joy, Women chuckle lightly, and the most important thing I noticed, was they were all different cultures. I saw white skin, tan, and brown, black, some were painted blue; the sign of royalty in India, and some were even yellow. And suddenly it came to me; you could be whatever you wanted here. And that's exactly what made me smile.

You couldn't help but feel like you belonged.. Ocean shines in the distance, the spray of the sea cooling down all residences in the market.

I look over at my brother, and see that he seems to be searching for someone.

"Who are you looking for?" I question.

"Someone you have met before, Kartik."

I could not figure out for the life of me who it was. But I stayed silent as we walked briskly through the streets of the bizarre. And I find I enjoy myself, just smelling the spice in the air, hearing the laughter of the children, the sun warming out hearts, the ocean cooling our skin.

"Look over there, Kartik" he points towards a small, quaint house, clearly English, but bright with sunshine with flowers. And as we merged from crowd, and knocked on the front door, I could smell something delicious drafting through the open window.

It immediately it opens widely.

And inside is a red haired woman, with bright, familiar eyes.

Virginia Doyle. Gemma's mother.

She smiles at us; Amar bows, and nudges me in the ribs for me to bow also. I bend over quickly, hoping she didn't notice.

She does, and laughs. "Gentlemen, Gentlemen, no need for that. We are all equals here, come in, come in!"

We both stand and follow her into a small kitchen. There is vegetables boiling in a large pot, and fruit lined up on a cutting board. She is very precise, this woman is.

She covers her hands with a cloth and bends over and pulls a freshly baked pie from the oven. Virginia sets it on the open windowsill to let it cool. She sets the rag down and motions for us to sit down at the coffee table.

"Amar." She addresses him. "How are you?"

"Perfectly fine," he answers "and yourself?"

"Never better, but my Gemma…."

My ears prick up at the sound of her name, and suddenly, I miss her again. All happiness drained from inside me.

Virginia notices and looks in my direction.

"You have gone quite pale, are you alright?"

Is she talking to me? Amar looks at me, turns back to Gemma's mother and says "This is my brother Kartik, I believe he knew Gemma. Is that correct?"

They both turn to me and I nod. I am about to speak, but am interrupted when a small girl quickly skips to Virginia's side. She has dark hair, and dark eyes. And I know exactly who she is. Caroline goes to stand beside Gemma's mother and takes her hand.

They both begin to smile, but nobody moves to introduce the small Gypsy girl.

The more I watch her, the more I see Mother Elena's features in her little face.

Caroline only has eyes for the red-haired woman.

And it is only then that I notice that Amar and Virginia have started a conversation.

"…. and then he plunged the sword through my own heart." Virginia gasps, and looks at me like I am …brave. I look away.

"You were the one…" Virginia whispers. I was the one that what?

Virginia continues. "You saved my Gemma's life. Didn't you?"

When I say nothing she nods," You did, I know you did."

And how does she know this? But then I remember where we are, and I realize, here, you know everything you want to know.

"Thank you."

I look down at my shoes. Then suddenly Amars voice echoes big and booming.

"Well, let's do what we meant to do here." We have a job to do? Amar didn't mention that.

Virginia and Caroline jump up, and quickly open the front door, and suddenly, like Gemma's magic, people quickly bustle in the small cozy house.

What I see makes my head spin. Inside comes Mother Elena, who immediately rushes to embrace Caroline.

I see Gemma's old Teacher, Miss Moore, _Circe_, I am attempted to spit at her, but then I remember she helped Gemma win.

I notice lover, Miss McCleethly. She hangs onto Mother Elena's arm, helping her walk. But right behind, comes a pretty brunette, her mouth curled permanently like she just tasted something sour. And I wonder what could make her so unhappy here. And then I notice it was one of Gemma's friends. Pippa? I search for the right name. And I know what makes her so unhappy. She is too corrupted to enjoy her time here. I'll take care to avoid her.

I see other people I do not recognize also. But when everyone is settled in the too small house, we all turn out attention to Virginia, who smiles at Mother Elena.

"Take us away, Mother." But my voice booms before Mother Elena can say anything. I know I am suddenly angry, for a reason I don't even know.

"Wait! What are we doing? Every one seems to know except me! What's happening?"

Everyone turns to me, and when I feel Amars hand on my soldier, he whispers to me. "We are watching over Gemma, this is our job as rebels. We are guardians over what we left behind."

"So I'm seeing Gemma again?"

"Not in person."

"Tell me what you mean brother."

"You will see her in a vision, Kartik." He speaks softly, "These people here are part of the council, we decide how you, Gemma's guardian, will change the path she has taken. We don't want you to make such large decisions on your own."

My fear and confusion dies down, knowing that I will see Gemma again, even if only in a dream.

Mother Elena opens her arms and suddenly, a large cloud of smoke lifts from her small and wrinkly hands, the cloud of smoke changes colors, till a picture is formed in the mass.

And suddenly we are thrust into Gemma's life, only allowed to watch.


	3. GEMMA'S NEW LIFE

Gemma POV

Two months after

This isn't how I pictured my life to be. I pictured myself in a small quaint English village…maybe even American. But soon after Kartik's sacrifice, I soon learned that I needed to live in India. Where I could be reminded of where I was truly happy.

What's strange about epiphanies is that they occur at the strangest of times. This is exactly why I'm running through the Hindi streets of a bizaare. I don't even pause to smell the spicy food and notice fine silks being sold in little tents. I have one purpose and one purpose only.

I find myself thanking my trousers and baggy sleeves, freeing my legs of my annoying skirts, and letting my lungs expand.

I tighten the small bag of food tighter around my belt, and placed a hand on my hat to keep from blowing away. Turning left, I run into a small and dirty alley, whipping my head left and right, I search through the beggars and the homeless. Looking like this, it seemed like I belonged here, even I didn't know anymore.

Finally I caught sight of a small crowd of children, all huddled together under an awning, crabbing and reaching for a small tub of water. As I came closer they turned to me, and as I pulled out the bag of food to show them, they all rushed to my side, pulling on my belt and looking up at me with glittering eyes.

I laugh hardily, and sit down with my back against the brick wall, open my bag, and hand out containers of milk, slices of beef, cheese and bread. Hands slash through the air as I pull out twelve apples from my sleeves, and a grin is etched upon each and every face I can see.

Next I take my hat from my head, and run my fingers through loose strands of hair. Then I hear cry's thanks while a small boy of around three crawls onto my lap. I stroke his black curls; they are so like Kartik's. My eyes threaten to water at the thought of his name, but I blink them back, and force my lips to smile.

"Ann," The children cry.

I just smile at them as they crowd around my feet. They would never know my true name.

"Tell us a story! Tell us a story!" they cry

"Alright, _Minhas,"_ I say in their native tongue.

And so I begin my tale... and the best part is… it's the truth.

"_The city bazaar is filled with good smelling spices, and grand elephants parading down the street. The Indian Princes are painted blue, showing their royalty, princesses with baby rose buds as crowns, all living in this magical place. _

_But the most exciting part of this hot day is the red headed girl down by the glittering ocean. She follows her mother and family servant while being entertained by a monkey selling dates. _

'_But suddenly, out of the crowd, came two young men, both natives to India. The eldest one, named Amar, had a job of protecting the young girls mother. The second man was named Kartik, and both were members of The Rakshana, a group who wanted the power to a special place, a very special place indeed."_

"When you say power," a child asks me, "Do you mean magic?"

I feel a small smile turning up my lips. "That's exactly what they want."

The children all seem to get excited by the thought of magic spun into the tale.

"What special place?" a small girl asks then. I give everyone a knowing look, and then say… "If I tell you, it will ruin the story." They all stay quiet. And I resume my story telling.

"_Now, the Rakshana were a very powerful group indeed. All members were well trained for battle, but when Amar came to the mother, he whispered something in her ear that made even the strongest Rakshana shake in their boots._

'_Circe is near.'_

_The mother looks around wildly, and then when she looked back at the two young men, they were gone. _

"_Virginia, the mother, grabs and snaps the necklace off her neck and hands it to her daughter, When the daughter takes it, Virginia quickly comes up with an excuse to be freed of her daughter, and leaves. Only her daughter wouldn't understand…until much later in this story._

"_The woman left, she had her own business to take care of, and no one would know, but she was secretly terrified._

"_Now the daughter was named Gemma, and had a temper that was as red as her own hair. _

_Feeling abandoned, she told her mother she hated her, and took off in the opposite direction. Wishing she would never see her mother again, and ran away .The very last words to her mother was, "I don't care if you ever come home at all."_

_Gemma runs, in a direction she does not know, until she comes to a dark alleyway. Filled with dangerous men who wish to harm her, they all shuffle towards her, she begins to ask them for help, but is interrupted when the homeless men begin to screech and back away from her, pointing shakily at her necklace. They were terrified of it. _

_She doesn't understand, and becomes confused when they throw rocks at her, just to make her disappear. _

_She takes off running again, this time running blindly into a forest, scratching her arms and legs on passing thorns._

_Then it happens._

"What?" The children ask, when I pause. "What happens?"

_The vision._

_Her heart thumps loudly, her blood flows fast in her veins. She is in a large tunnel, for a second, she sees nothing, then color swirl in her mind, and pictures make their way into Gemma's mind._

"_She sees her mother racing down a large walkway. She seems to be searching for something. For Gemma?_

_She stops, and looks around her, and then she hears footsteps, coming closer and closer. Her green eyes look around her frantically, then she sees it, the tracker, it's large and dark. It is thirsty, looking for a human to feed on, but it has a job to do. And the tracker is here, and it is determined to finish the job. After all, his master wants the magic. _

_Gemma's mother and the tracker find themselves face to face with each other. The tracker shows his teeth, raises a blackened and clawed hand, and begins to strike…_

"_Suddenly," _I pick up pace at this point of the story, my words flowing with my own memories. The beggar children around me are listening intently, they all stare up at me with anticipation, I can almost see their fear. And they are only using their imaginations.

"_Suddenly, Amar, one of the Rakshana, jumps in front of Virginia, protecting her life with his own. Virginia plunges a knife into her own chest while the tracker, ready to devoir, strike again,"_

I have to stop here, because the children are screeching with fright and nervous giggles, to them, it's only a story.

Men and woman walking by stop and stare at us, I nod at them, and they move on.

"We'll have to finish this story another time." I say to them,

Sounds of protest reach my ear, and I just smile at them, stand, clip my hair up, and place my old, dusty, hat that I found in a dumpster on my head.

Nothing wears the heart like poverty.

I look up at the sun, midday. I quickly take off running, waving at the children trying to follow; their older brothers and sisters hold them back. They know I will return.

I am at my employer's farm. After all, work means money. And money is what I need to live independently. My job is to pitch hay into wheelbarrows, to pick tobacco, and to help feed and water the horses. Lovely.

This is exactly what I expected too.

But I always keep my head up high; I will always follow his example.

Kartik's.


End file.
